Some experience · 2–4 weeks
20 hour driving course
Twenty hours spread across two to four weeks — enough to rebuild rusty skills, cover everything the test asks for and get you to a confident standard around work or college.
£1,224.55
£61.23 per hour · pay in full or in three instalments
Is this the right course for you?
- You have had ten or more hours of lessons before
- There has been a gap since you last drove
- You want lessons spread out rather than crammed into one week
If more than one of those does not sound like you, take the course recommender rather than guessing — booking too few hours and topping up later usually costs more than booking the right course first time.
At a glance
- Hours
- 20 hours of in-car tuition
- Price
- £1,224.55
- Hourly rate
- £61.23
- Typical timeline
- Usually completed in 2–4 weeks
- Transmission
- Manual or automatic
- Test included
- Test booking support, DVSA fee paid separately
What the hours cover
Control refresh: clutch, gears, steering, moving off on hills
Junctions, roundabouts, crossings and traffic systems
All four manoeuvres plus the emergency stop
Rural roads, dual carriageways and night driving if needed
Mock test and test-route practice
How the course is scheduled
1. Assessment session
Your first session is used to check where you actually are, not where the booking form said you were. The plan is adjusted from there.
2. The main block
The bulk of your 20 hours, usually in two or three hour sessions. Longer sessions mean less time re-learning between lessons.
3. Mock and test
The last block is mock tests and test-route practice. We recommend a test date once you are consistently passing mocks.
Who the semi-intensive suits
Twenty hours is the most commonly booked course for part-trained learners, and it is the point where a course starts covering everything the test asks for rather than repairing specific parts of it.
The typical booking is someone with ten or more hours of previous lessons and a gap of anywhere from a few months to a couple of years. There is enough underlying skill that you are not starting again, but enough rust that a booster would run out halfway through.
It also suits people who cannot clear a week for a full intensive. Twenty hours spread over two to four weeks fits around shift work, college or a job, without dropping to the one-hour-a-week pattern that makes progress so slow and so expensive over time.
What twenty hours covers
Control work comes first and quickly: clutch, gears, steering discipline, moving off on hills and in traffic. For a returning learner this is usually a session or two rather than a phase.
The bulk of the course is road-craft — junctions, roundabouts of every type, crossings, lane discipline, dual carriageways and the sort of busy town driving that produces most test faults. All four manoeuvres and the emergency stop are covered within this rather than saved for the end.
The final sessions are a mock test and test-route practice around your local centre. If your instructor thinks you need one more block of hours after the mock, you will be told — recommending a test date you are not ready for costs you the DVSA fee and the wait for another slot.
How the schedule usually looks
The common pattern is two or three sessions a week at two to three hours each, finishing in two to four weeks. Sessions shorter than two hours waste time on set-up and re-learning; sessions longer than three tend to stop paying back in concentration.
Private practice alongside the course speeds things up more than any other single factor, provided the supervising driver is over 21, has held a full licence for three years and the car is insured for you as a learner.
If you want to be finished by a specific date, tell us at booking. Test availability at your local centre varies, and it is often the constraint rather than the lesson schedule.
What the price covers
Included
- 20 hours of in-car tuition with a DVSA-approved instructor
- Dual-control car, fully insured for learner drivers
- A written lesson plan and fault record you can see
- Mock tests marked the way an examiner marks them
- Pick-up and drop-off at home, work or college
- Free access to the theory hub — 694 DVSA-style questions
Not included
- The DVSA practical test fee — £62 on weekdays, £75 evenings, weekends and bank holidays, paid to the DVSA.
- The DVSA theory test fee — £23, paid to the DVSA.
- Your provisional licence, if you do not already hold one.
- Extra hours, if you choose to add them. Charged at the same £61.23 hourly rate — no top-up premium.
20 hour course — common questions
Is 20 hours enough to pass?
For a part-trained learner with recent experience, it commonly is. For a complete beginner it is not — the DVSA's own guidance points to a much larger number of hours from scratch, and our beginner courses start at 30 hours for that reason.
How long does a 20 hour course take?
Typically two to four weeks at two or three sessions a week. It can be compressed into a single week if you and your instructor both have the availability.
Can I book my practical test before the course starts?
You can, and with waiting times at some centres it is sometimes the sensible order. Book a date far enough out that the course finishes at least a week before it, and be prepared to move the date if you are not ready.
Is the DVSA test fee included in the course price?
No. Course prices cover in-car tuition with your instructor. The DVSA practical test fee is paid to the DVSA separately — £62 on weekdays and £75 in the evening, at weekends and on bank holidays. The theory test is £23. We help you find and book a slot, but the fee is never marked up by us.
Do I need to pass my theory test before I start?
No. You can start your driving course with a provisional licence alone. You cannot sit the practical test until the theory is passed, so the sooner it is done the more freedom you have over test dates. Our theory hub has 694 DVSA-style questions and every road sign, free, with no paywall.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. You can pay in full or split the cost across three interest-free instalments. Your start date is held once the first payment clears. Full details are on the ways to pay page.
What if I need more hours than the course includes?
You can add hours at the same hourly rate — there is no penalty rate for topping up. That said, adding hours at the end usually costs more than booking the right course at the start, which is why the recommender asks about recency of practice rather than just total hours.
Manual or automatic?
Both are available on every course. Automatic learners typically reach test standard in fewer hours because there is no clutch or gear work to absorb, but an automatic pass restricts your licence to automatic cars. A manual pass covers both.
What happens to hours I have not used?
Unused hours stay on your account for 12 months. If your test date moves or life gets in the way, you do not lose what you have paid for.
Other courses
Not sure how many hours you need?
Answer four quick questions and we will recommend a course based on your experience, not a sales target.